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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170876">behind the sun, beyond the sunset</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/AdmirableMonster'>AdmirableMonster (Mertiya)</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya'>Mertiya</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ring-bound verse [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - "afterlife", Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Homecoming, M/M, Reunions, am i not really ascribing to how valinor works canonically, background frodo/sam/rosie, not really but i don't care so don't at me</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:35:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,414</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/AdmirableMonster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gandalf alerts Bilbo that a very precious friend will soon be on his doorstep.  Thorin is jealous.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bilbo Baggins &amp; Sauron | Mairon, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Morgoth Bauglir | Melkor/Sauron | Mairon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ring-bound verse [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848271</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>137</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>behind the sun, beyond the sunset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>did not really fit into the main fic but I couldn't resist</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            Thorin woke to the stillness of an early morning.  He felt, as he often did, for his sword, before his hand came into contact with warm, living flesh, and he looked down to see Bilbo’s little form curled up beside him.  As always, he felt as if he were awoken from stone anew, in Valinor, at Bilbo’s side at last.  He did not know how many days it had been, slipping away like beads falling from a string, but it still seemed like very few in comparison to his time spent in Middle Earth and his time beyond that, sleeping in the quiet of the mountain.</p>
<p>            “Mr. Oakenshield, sir, are you decent?”  Bilbo’s nephew’s paramour could not be dissuaded from formality, no matter how often he was told it wasn’t necessary.  Even the round teasing he got from Fíli and Kíli did not seem to stop him.</p>
<p>            “Yes, lad,” Thorin replied in amusement.  Bilbo murmured sleepily at his elbow.</p>
<p>            “Frodo wants to know if you’ll be wanting bacon for breakfast.  He and Rosie are making it up now.”</p>
<p>            “Never mind what <em>he</em> wants,” Bilbo said, sitting up.  “<em>I</em> want bacon, and I shall have it.”  Thorin laughed at him and ruffled his hair.</p>
<p>             Sam ducked his head and grinned.  “Right you are, sir.”</p>
<p>            They rose slowly, for Bilbo had never been an early riser, which did not surprise Thorin in the least.  What did surprise him was the way the little hobbit was always chilly when he first woke up and would promptly try to burrow into Thorin for warmth.  Thorin never wanted to let him go, so it took some time for them to actually make it out of bed, with Thorin dropping lazy kisses on the top of Bilbo’s curly head the whole time.</p>
<p>            Eventually, though, mostly put together, the two of them stumbled out into the kitchen, where Frodo and Rosie were laughing together as Sam hovered and offered to help, but since Frodo was making coffee and Rosie was frying, they kept waving him off, leaving him flustered and frustrated.  Fíli and Kíli were at the table, yawning, clearly having only arisen a few moments before Thorin and Bilbo.</p>
<p>            As Thorin and Bilbo slipped into their seats at the long table, there came a loud rapping on the door.  Bilbo groaned.  “If that is Manwë himself, someone please send him packing at least until I have had a decent cup of coffee.”</p>
<p>            Sam, clearly wanting to be useful, quickly made his way over to the door and opened it.  “Ah—Mr. Gandalf, sir—”</p>
<p>            “Go away!” Bilbo caroled at the top of his lungs.  “It is too early for friendly visitations!”</p>
<p>            Gandalf laughed and swept past the uncomfortable-looking Sam.  “For most, perhaps,” he said, gently, and Thorin wondered at the strange look in his eyes.  “But I think you will want to know these tidings, Master Baggins.”</p>
<p>            “Oh, will I now?”  Bilbo hid his face in Thorin’s shirt, and Thorin pulled him close, perhaps a little defiant of Gandalf, even though it was never Gandalf who had hurt the man at his side.  Only Thorin had done that, at least of those who were now arranged about the breakfast room.</p>
<p>            “You will.”  Gandalf raised his pipe to his lips and blew out a smoke ring that did not long remain in a ring shape.  The smoke gathered in the air into a small, swift-looking ship, whose sails billowed out in a phantom wind.  It was clearly moving at a rapid clip.  “A ship has been sighted on the horizon.”</p>
<p>            Bilbo rubbed his eyes and looked up.  For an instant, he seemed confused, and then his face brightened.  “Has he come at last?  Truly, Gandalf?”  Thorin did not know what to make of it.  He had never seen a coffee-less Bilbo this energetic.  “After all that business with Manwë months ago, I thought he might come, but…” he trailed off, his face pinching into a sorrow that Thorin did not like to see.</p>
<p>            Gandalf gave him an amused look from under his beetling brows.  “I am afraid your Master Fëacormo has been a little selfish these past months.”</p>
<p>            “Oh, <em>has</em> he?  I shall have strong words for him, then,” Bilbo said, as Frodo set a steaming cup of coffee at his elbow and looked up.</p>
<p>            “He lives, then?” he said quietly.  “Or…?”</p>
<p>            “Say rather that he has returned as I once did,” Gandalf replied gently.  “After a far longer sleep.”</p>
<p>            “Who are you talking about?” Thorin demanded, rather irritably.  He did not like to see that light in Bilbo’s face directed towards anyone besides himself, although he knew that was a little unreasonable.</p>
<p>            “Why—you don’t mean Mr. Mairon, surely?”  Sam spoke haltingly, and Thorin saw that there were tears welling up in his eyes.  Rosie and Frodo both converged on him, each kissing one cheek and tucking themselves up under his arms.</p>
<p>            “He was always your special friend, wasn’t he, Sam?” Frodo said gently, and Sam nodded.</p>
<p>            “And mine as well!” Bilbo said hotly, and again Thorin felt jealousy surging inside him.  Who was this person that Bilbo called his special friend?  Frodo might have no problem with Sam’s response, but then he and Rosie did not appear to have a jealous bone in their bodies.  He contented himself with a grunt, but he could not stop the frown from creeping up over his face.</p>
<p>            Bilbo suddenly flung himself up from his place.  “Will he be here soon?  Oh, heavens, I’m not dressed—this place isn’t ready for it—but we must meet them at the shore, we <em>must</em>!  Come along, Thorin, dear!”  Only slightly mollified by the “dear”, Thorin complied.  Then he spent the next half hour watching Bilbo fussing over what clothes to put on.</p>
<p>            “You certainly seem to want to look well for this mysterious visitor,” he said at one point.</p>
<p>            “I can’t let him be the better dressed one!” Bilbo retorted in distraction, which did nothing to put Thorin at any of his ease.  As Bilbo did not appear to be very forthcoming, he gave up and sat outside the door of the bedroom, smoking his own pipe and watching Frodo, Sam, and Rosie murmur amongst themselves, and growing slowly more and more frustrated.</p>
<p>            By the time Bilbo emerged, Thorin was in a truly foul mood, and the mood was not in the least improved by seeing that Bilbo had actually put on his mithril shirt and belted a sword at his side, beneath a richly-embroidered cloak.  Thorin did not think Bilbo had ever worn anything so fine in all his life, certainly not without a whole palaver about not wanting to.  He found himself growing ever gloomier.</p>
<p>            It did not help that no sense whatsoever could be got out of any of the hobbits, and that Gandalf was his usual inscrutable self.  He merely saw to it that there were horses for himself, Frodo, Sam, and Bilbo waiting outside, and then, after an amused look, summoned a fifth for Thorin.  Rosie was asked if she would like to go, but she said she would be happy for Frodo and Sam to have their privacy with their old friend, which only made Thorin feel worse about his insistence that he accompany Bilbo.  Not bad enough not to go, though.</p>
<p>            It did not take them long to reach the pale shore; when they did, they saw that a ship was indeed drawing near, a small, white ship that glittered in the bright starlight.  A figure on its deck seemed to illuminate the pale decks red with a firelit glow.  Bilbo gave a sharp exclamation and nearly jumped off his horse.  The figure gave an answering start, and then leapt from the bow of the boat into the calm waves near the shore.  A moment later, Thorin saw the head of a great grey wolf break through the surface, paddling towards them.</p>
<p>            “Help me down, someone, oh, do!” Bilbo cried eagerly.  Sam and Frodo were hastily dismounting as well.  Thorin got down and helped Bilbo off, fearing he would do himself an injury else.  He did not even get any thanks for it, for Bilbo tore down the shore and nearly began wading out into the sea as the wolf and the ship approached.  A moment later, the creature pulled itself out of the surf, shook itself, sending water flying absolutely everywhere and drawing a protest from Bilbo, but before anything else could happen, it actually pounced, dropping him to the sand beneath it.</p>
<p>            Thorin reached for his axe, in sudden fear, but Gandalf caught his hand.  “Mairon will not harm him,” he said quietly.  “He has had many opportunities to do so in the past, and he has never once acted upon them.”  Indeed, the wolf was not behaving in the least aggressively; rather, it was licking Bilbo’s face all over and whining in a sort of desperate, happy manner.</p>
<p>            “You are terrible,” Bilbo told it.  “I cannot believe you made me wait <em>months</em> longer than I needed to for you!  Where on earth have you been?”</p>
<p>            The ship drew into the harbor, and Thorin saw that at its bow stood the tall, resplendent figure of one who could only be a Vala, his black hair blowing out in the sea breeze.  He wore a silver circlet on his brow but only simple traveling clothes beneath, finely made.  Gandalf gave him a stiff, welcoming bow as he stepped onto the shore.  Even as he did, the wolf’s form twisted and changed, so that Bilbo was instead tangled up in a very elf-like shape, half-hidden in a curtain of long, red-gold hair.  Thorin’s heart twisted in his chest.  Had Bilbo found someone after he had died—had it only been that Thorin was the one who had reached Valinor first, because he had been awoken by Aulë?  He looked up and saw, to his surprise, a very similar expression on the face of the Vala gazing at the two of them.</p>
<p>            The red-haired one—whom Thorin realized after a moment of glancing back and forth to Gandalf was probably a Maia—tangled his hands with Bilbo’s and drew him into a tight embrace.</p>
<p>            “Well, Mr. Baggins,” he said, in a voice raw with emotion, “I feel that after you abandoned me in the Shire for a good thirty years, it is within my rights to make you wait for a few months while I show my master—my husband the beauty of Arda.”</p>
<p>            “Oh!” Bilbo exclaimed.  “Your master—then—” He looked up.  The Maia got swiftly to his feet, and Thorin saw something of why Bilbo had demanded to put on his very best clothes.  Unlike the Vala, his outfit was not simple—he wore a jewel-encrusted mail shirt that was nonetheless made so light that it looked as though he were clad in sparkling silver river water, and there was a twisting golden dragon perched upon one ear, with a red gem representing its flame.  A master craftsman had made both.  Thorin felt another kind of jealousy seeping up inside him.  If the Maia had also made his own outfit, then that was another way in which he outstripped Thorin entire.</p>
<p>            As he thought this, the Maia turned sly red-brown eyes on him.  “Well met, Thorin Oakenshield,” he said.  “I am pleased that you look much healthier than the last time I saw you.”  Then he turned again, as Thorin was left to wonder how he could have forgotten such an unforgettable creature, and put out his hand to the Vala.  “My lord—”</p>
<p>            The Vala shook his head.  “Melkor,” he said quietly.  “Mairon—”</p>
<p>            “This is my greatest friend, Mr. Bilbo Baggins of the Shire.  Bilbo—this is Melkor.  Just as your Thorin came back for you, he has come back for me.  He found me sleeping beneath Amon Amarth and woke me.”</p>
<p>            “Yes, I recognize him.”  Bilbo gave Melkor a stern look, and Thorin was treated to the sight of a small hobbit with chest puffed up lecturing a Vala.  “I hope you have apologized for the way you treated Mairon!  He used to cry over it, often.  And over your loss.  I never thought you deserved such loyalty.”</p>
<p>            Two black eyebrows arched, and Thorin stepped forward to lay a hand on Bilbo’s shoulder.  Vala or not, he would not allow Bilbo to come to harm.  But Melkor dipped his head.  “Yes,” he said.  “I have apologized, and Mairon has forgiven me, though he did not need to.  I am glad to find he had such a friend as you to keep him company while I was gone.”</p>
<p>            Thorin was beginning to realize that he had probably been rather foolish, for Bilbo was leaning back against him as naturally as he had ever done, and the look Mairon turned upon Melkor was the same as Thorin knew sometimes adorned his own face when he looked at Bilbo. </p>
<p>            Mairon turned to Frodo and Sam and held out his hands.  “Ah, the Ring-bearer and his most faithful servant,” he smiled.  “I have missed you as well, both of you.”</p>
<p>            Frodo and Sam pulled him into an embrace.  Melkor continued to watch with those crackling dark eyes, quietly.  Thorin gave him a strained smile.  He felt he could be magnanimous now that he had both arms about his burglar.  “I would not worry,” he said archly.  “He only has eyes for you.”</p>
<p>            To his surprise, the Vala flushed.  “I know,” he said.  “It is only—sometimes I think that he ought not to.”</p>
<p>            Thorin had sometimes thought the same about Bilbo, utterly astonished by the hobbit’s capacity for forgiveness.  It was strange to have something in common with such a vastly more powerful creature.  Yet Melkor seemed—like Gandalf, perhaps—not to carry his power in a way that set him above the little crowd who had assembled on the white shores.  Thorin gave him a nod, as one king to another, and Melkor returned it.</p>
<p>            Mairon looked up from between Sam and Frodo.  “They have just told me that there is bacon and coffee and pancakes waiting for us!” he said excitedly.  “Let’s go, shall we?”</p>
<p>            “I suppose you must have gotten very tired of not being able to eat,” Bilbo said thoughtfully, and this time, when he offered Mairon his hand, Thorin did not feel the desire to rumble an objection.  He took Bilbo’s other hand, and Melkor took Mairon’s other hand, and together they turned back towards Valinor.</p>
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